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Different Ways Of Worship Should Not Be Reason For Conflict, Says RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat

We can follow our belief systems, but still have it in us to accept other people's truths as true, said Mohan Bhagwat.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>File photo. (Source: Mohan Bhagwat/Facebook)</p></div>
File photo. (Source: Mohan Bhagwat/Facebook)

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Chief Mohan Bhagwat said that there may be different methods of worship in society, but that should not lead to conflict among people.

A person can follow one's belief systems, but can still accept other people's truths as true, Bhagwat said at an event in Red Fort, Delhi, on Friday while addressing an audience of people from Hindu and Muslim communities.

"When an airplane would have passed through some remote country for the first time, people would have called it an iron bird," he said, at the launch of the Urdu translation of Samaveda by writer Iqbal Durrani. "They are not wrong."

"We have to resolve to internalise the learnings of the Vedas in our life," Bhagwat said. "It's easy to think the other person is wrong and you are right, but that is not (the) truth."

Narrating a story from the teachings of Swami Vivekananda, he said the journey to the peak of the mountain can be different for each person. "One can use the cement road, the other can find a path covered in bushes. But no path is wrong, and the destination for all is the God who is above all these."

The event is being seen as a continuation of the efforts by the RSS to engage the Muslim community in a dialogue and work towards the "assimilation of minorities" within the Indian society. The RSS has been promoting Muslims who have been studying Indian arts, languages and forms of craft as icons for the community.

Bhagwat highlighted that one has to be mindful of people who "scare us and want us to be trapped in fear". "The solution is to change the way you think," he said. "We can follow our belief systems, but still have it in us to accept other people's truths as true too."

Stressing on the importance of vision and expression that the Vedas emphasise, Bhagwat said it was important not to limit oneself by preset traditions.

Vedas are a dharmagrantha (scripture), but worship is just one part of it. It is mainly knowledge and Vedas have never said "believe in us", according to the RSS chief. "They say experience and then decide. Only the mind should set limitations. Pursuit of truth should not be limited by boundaries."

Bhagwat said he is a thinker, not a scholar, and that is why he often wondered why he was invited for the event. But because of Durrani's insistence on his presence, he agreed to come for it, he said.

Bhagwat said the Samaveda—one of the four Vedas—was where the classical form of Indian music originated from.

Samaveda had around 11 shakhas, some of which are older and contained the genesis of seven sounds and gram rachna (village planning), from where emerged the Dhrupad gharana, Bhagwat said. He mentioned the names of famous musicians including Wasifudin Dagar and Zahiruddin Dagar, who belonged to the gharana.

Among those present at the event were several Hindu seers including Swami Gyananand, Jain guru Lokesh Muni, the Muslim cleric Umer Ahmed Ilyasi of the Imam Foundation, MPs Hans Raj Hans and Saroj Pandey, as well as actors Jaya Prada, Mukesh Khanna and Suneil Shetty.

Durrani, who has written the scripts for movies made in the 90s—including Phool Aur Kaante and Zakhmi Aurat—said he had fulfilled the dream of Mughal prince Dara Shikoh, who had translated the Upanishads into Urdu but was killed before he took up the task of translating the Vedas.

"Aurangzeb has lost today, Narendra Modi has won today," Durrani said. "And this is happening at the Red Fort that represents the rule of Shah Jahan. Some of the scars we bear for Dara's death can get washed away like this."

Durrani said he would travel to every state of India to spread the wisdom of the Samaveda.